


and that endless sky will become a bright light

by maizonos



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday, Birthday Presents, Confessions, Crushes, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Photography, Secret Crush, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-24 19:09:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22003009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maizonos/pseuds/maizonos
Summary: Having been a year since he developed a huge crush on his neighbour, Hyungwon tells himself that confessing is worth a shot.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Yoo Kihyun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55
Collections: hyungwon fest





	and that endless sky will become a bright light

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fic for Hyungwon Fest! The prompt I chose was: "I’ve been in love with you since you first moved in and I finally built up the courage to knock on your door but when you answered you had just woken up and didn’t have a shirt on so I ran away." The title was taken from Dreamcatcher's song "You and I".

Hyungwon thinks that birthdays are days where you reward yourself. Days where you sit back and relax, and celebrate the fact that you got through another year alive. It’s your day! It’s not that special of a day, but a day that should be enjoyable nonetheless.

And yet, there Hyungwon is, pacing around his room on his birthday, doing anything but celebrating the fact that he’s now a year older.

If things go to plan, then yes, all will be going according to Hyungwon’s philosophy of enjoying his birthday. But first, he needs to pull himself together and confess to his crush.

Hyungwon buries his face in his hands, wondering if this is really going to work out. He’d woken up early just to do this because he knows Kihyun, the charming neighbour he wants to confess his feelings to, normally gets up early in the morning too. It was probably also best not to delay doing this, as Hyungwon knew he had a tendency to procrastinate on everything and push it all back.

Does he know what Kihyun’s sexuality is? No. Does he know whether he’s even at home right now? No. Does he know how Kihyun might respond to his confession? No. In all honesty, Hyungwon knows next to nothing. Hyungwon can only imagine all the different scenarios that might play out. He knows there’s a high chance Kihyun is straight and might even have gone out despite it being an early Sunday morning. If this were the case, Hyungwon’s plan would dramatically fail and he would definitely not enjoy his birthday, even if his boss called in to say he could have a whole year of paid leave. It would be just as bad if Kihyun was there but rejected him, even if he was open to dating guys.

Hyungwon tries to tell himself it’s still worth a try, even if Kihyun turns out to be homophobic and starts avoiding him until one of them moves out. It’s been approximately one year since Kihyun moved into the apartment right next door, and therefore approximately one year since Hyungwon’s been infatuated with everything about him. He remembers the first time they talked when Kihyun rang the doorbell of all the apartments on their floor with a packet of cookies he’d made and how his heart had burst through the ceiling when he first saw Kihyun smile.

If it weren’t for the fact that he can’t forget that he’s about to confess, he’d be jumping around his apartment giddily as he recalls every single precious memory he has of his interactions with Kihyun. They’d sort of hung out a number of times when Minhyuk, another neighbour of theirs, arranged some gatherings with other young people who lived in the building, and every time Kihyun would be dressed very nicely in button-ups and jeans (boyfriend material, Hyungwon’s mind screams) and would take many photos of both the people and their surroundings with his camera.

Hyungwon wonders how many photos Kihyun has of him and what he thinks when he goes through them. Hyungwon knows he’s not ugly by the standards of most people, but maybe Kihyun sees him as nothing more than a neighbour who looks good in some of his photos. In a way, it makes Kihyun mysterious, because he doesn’t seem to have shown any of his neighbours what kind of pictures he takes.

Washing his face for the third time that morning and making sure his hair is as good as can be, Hyungwon tells himself that he’s got to do it. It's now or never, right? He pushes himself out the door, quickly locking it behind him too so it’ll be harder for him to run back in if he chickens out before he gets to Kihyun’s door.

Today, Kihyun’s door looks even more menacing than usual. On a normal day, it’d be bad enough because his heart would be so jumpy just pausing in front of the door thinking about what Kihyun might be doing inside or what it even looks like inside at the moment. Now that he’s in a greater state of panic, the plain door is suddenly so much more capable of giving him the chills. When he walks past (read: slinks past with his ear glued to the wall in an attempt to pick up on any sounds) Kihyun’s apartment, he often hears soft music playing, but today he can’t hear a thing from outside.

Maybe Kihyun isn’t in, and Hyungwon can face the scary task of confessing some other time. Hyungwon hovers outside for a while, debating whether to try knocking or not. Knowing that there might not be another day where he’ll work up the courage to do this, he raises his fist, reminds himself to breathe, and proceeds to rap his knuckles on the door three times.

There’s a bit of shuffling a few seconds later, and moments later the door creaks open. Kihyun’s head, complete with messy hair and tired eyes, pops out. He looks a little taken aback when he sees that it’s Hyungwon but he opens the door wider, stepping forward so he can engage Hyungwon in conversation. “Ah, good morning, Hyungwon,” he greets in his kind and friendly voice.

It’s at this point that Hyungwon notices something very startling about Kihyun. Before he can manage to return the greeting, he finds himself shifting on his feet awkwardly, trying to look anywhere but Kihyun’s _chest_. His bare chest, exposed to the world. All the sirens in Hyungwon’s head have gone off. It’s pretty normal for people to be in some state of undress when they’re at home. And Hyungwon has seen many naked people before, at places like changing rooms, too. But Hyungwon feels like he’s seen way more than he’s supposed to when his eyes land on his crush’s torso. His words don’t manifest, and he’s stuck standing there uncomfortably.

Maybe Kihyun doesn’t realise that the fact that he doesn’t have a shirt on is making things difficult for Hyungwon. Maybe Kihyun doesn’t even remember he’s currently shirtless. Either way, Kihyun starts to look confused and concerned. He tries to get a better look at Hyungwon’s face. “Are you alright, Hyungwon? Is everything okay?”

Hyungwon tries to stammer out something in response, but his vocal cords seem to have stopped operating almost entirely. Instead of trying to calm himself down and meet Kihyun’s gaze, he ends up scrambling down the hallway, ignoring Kihyun calling after him to come back.

The sounds of a video game stop blasting and Minhyuk’s door pops open easily just a few seconds after Hyungwon’s frantic knocking. Hyungwon is immediately welcomed inside and thankfully, Minhyuk locks the door behind him. There will be no shirtless Kihyun running in for now. “Birthday boy! Why are you here today?”

Hyungwon opens his mouth, then shuts it a few moments later as he realises he doesn’t even know where to start. “Kihyun…” he finally mumbles after a while.

Minhyuk tilts his head to the side curiously and picks his phone up. “Yeah, what about him? Did he do something to you? Hah, it would be super funny if he did.”

“Nothing, really,” Hyungwon admits with a long sigh. He’s definitely not going to tell someone like Minhyuk about his crush on Kihyun when he knows very well how quickly the news will spread among the other occupants of the building. It’s certainly even worse of an idea at the moment given that he’s still hoping to be able to confess to Kihyun today.

Minhyuk raises an eyebrow despite the fact that his eyes are still mostly glued to his phone. “Then?”

“I knocked on his door and when he opened it, he wasn’t wearing a shirt,” Hyungwon murmurs softly, not really sure if it’s a good idea for him to disclose that information to Minhyuk. He realises, belatedly, that he didn’t even get to see what kind of pants Kihyun was wearing. A wasted opportunity to discern what Kihyun wears to bed, he laments. At least now he knows what Kihyun doesn’t wear to bed, right?

“Oh? Why’d you go over to his place anyway?” Minhyuk glances at Hyungwon for a second and then goes back to using his phone, tapping away on the screen.

“I, uh, wanted to talk to him about something. But I wasn’t expecting him to be shirtless so I freaked and ran over here after a few seconds of just standing there trying to get myself to talk.”

Minhyuk laughs, the obnoxious sound ridiculously similar to the call of a dolphin. “You’re so dramatic, Hyungwon. Are you sure you’re not just overreacting? I’m quite sure his chest is nothing to gawk at or anything.”

Hyungwon sighs. “I guess I kind of was overreacting. But still, I had no way of knowing he would be shirtless. I thought he had been awake for quite some time! And I didn’t think he would be the type to sleep shirtless!”

Minhyuk snorts. “I think your perception of him is far from the truth. Deep down he’s as pure as us.” He gestures at himself and Hyungwon and grins.

“But we’re not pure at all...so you’re saying he isn’t either?”

“Yeah. Exactly what I’m saying. I hung out with him a couple of times, just the two of us. Got him to spill a lot of info about himself. Was very amusing, I must say. Yoo Kihyun, supposedly sweet angel?” Minhyuk breaks into another fit of laughter. Talking to Minhyuk sure is difficult when he starts laughing every minute.

“Okay, okay, just hear me out now. What do I do? Do you think he was offended when I ran away?”

“Hmmm, he was probably a bit shocked at first but I think he understands. If he went to your place and you opened the door half-naked, he would probably run too.” Minhyuk holds back a snicker. “He’ll come over later when he’s calmed himself down and made sure he’s got a shirt on, I’m sure.”

“You seem to know a lot more about him than I thought.” Hyungwon narrows his eyes.

Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “You automatically get closer to people once they accidentally tell you a number of embarrassing stories about themselves when they get drunk. He probably trusts me with his life now because he knows I could betray him any second if he doesn’t do what I tell him to.”

“Wait, he went drinking with you?!” Hyungwon exclaims, bewildered.

“As I said earlier, he’s not as pure as you think. He’s not the kind to drink regularly, but there was this one time where he agreed to go with me and then…”

Hyungwon waves his arms around. “Alright, enough, enough, I don’t want to hear any more of that. So do I just go back to my apartment and risk having to talk to him on my own? Or should I stay here until he shows up?”

“Up to you, really, he’ll look for you. And even if he does talk to you here, he won’t want me hearing whatever he has to say anyway.” Minhyuk turns his attention back to his phone, grinning at the screen.

“Okay then, whatever, I’ll stay here. Can’t be bothered to go back out.” Hyungwon slides onto the couch next to Minhyuk. “I take it you’re busy texting someone?”

“Actually, I’m texting Kihyun.”

Hyungwon almost leaps off the couch. “What?! Did you tell him everything I just said?!”

“No, no, don’t worry, he’s a smart lad, he knows how to figure things out on his own without me dropping any hints. He’s just freaking out about what he’s going to do.” Minhyuk chortles as he keyboard smashes.

So even the usually cool, calm and collected Kihyun has his moments of panic. Hyungwon makes small nods as he deliberates this.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him I told you I’m texting him.” Minhyuk flashes him another grin. Whether it’s meant to be reassuring or threatening is unclear.

“Do I want to know what he’s saying to you?” Hyungwon asks.

“Mmm...maybe, but that’s for you to try and find out later,” Minhyuk cackles.

Anxious, unsure of what to do, and maybe a little bored, Hyungwon fiddles around with Minhyuk’s game console. “I’m guessing you’re too busy chatting with him to play a round or two with me?” he asks. Minhyuk shakes his head and Hyungwon pouts. “Not even on my birthday?” he teasingly whines.

“It’s definitely been a while since I last invited you over to play, but you’re right, it’s too entertaining reading Kihyun’s texts and teasing him. Next time, next time, I can guarantee I’ll make time for us to play some games again, like...next week?”

Hyungwon nods. “Sure. I should be free. I’ll look forward to that.”

Resolving to stare out Minhyuk’s window instead, Hyungwon feels his heart beating rapidly. He still doesn't quite know what's going on and isn't sure if he'll come to regret knocking on Kihyun’s door on his birthday, but they do say you only live once. And he ought to just stop wasting time pining over Kihyun and move on if Kihyun doesn't like him back.

Just when he was about to fall asleep on the couch, there’s a sharp knock on the door. Minhyuk jerks up too and grins toothily at Hyungwon. “It's time,” he announces teasingly.

“Yeah...I heard…” Hyungwon edges towards the door slowly, nervous about what may happen next.

Right before turning the doorknob, he turns around to look at Minhyuk again. “Thanks for the hospitality, I guess?”

“No problem.” Minhyuk waves at him, a serene smile on his face, as if wishing him luck. Hyungwon wouldn’t be surprised if he’d correctly guessed what Hyungwon’s reason for knocking on Kihyun’s door was.

Naturally, Kihyun looks a lot different compared with how he looked half an hour ago. As usual, his hair’s finely combed, he’s got on yet another one of those flannel shirts, and his precious camera hangs from his neck. It would be just another regular session of freaking out for Hyungwon, but this time he’s most certainly got more things to worry about. They’re walking side by side. Next to each other. Outside. Not just chatting at one of Minhyuk’s get-togethers. This is almost like a date. Hyungwon wishes it was.

Both of them haven’t dared to say a word ever since Kihyun asked Hyungwon if he’d like to go for a walk with him about five minutes ago. Hyungwon’s teeth sink into his lip as he wonders when would be a good time to break the silence. Walking is a good distraction though, he realises. It takes his mind off the most pressing matter at hand and gives him something to do.

It seems Kihyun had been thinking the same thing too because he opens his mouth before Hyungwon can. “So, uh, about earlier…” Hyungwon watches as his hand releases his camera and darts up to scratch the back of his neck.

“Yes. Earlier.” Hyungwon stiffens, and his eyes try to find something else to stare at before Kihyun gets creeped out.

“Sorry for alarming you like that. I don’t often get people knocking on my door in the morning. And I seriously overslept this morning…” Kihyun chuckles nervously. “It’s kind of embarrassing to say this, but it’s true that I often sleep without a shirt on...I can’t lie about that...don’t know if Minhyuk told you that already but yeah...so that’s that. Just wanted to clear it up and hope things are good between us.”

“No, no, it’s my fault for coming over without warning,” Hyungwon insists bashfully as he tries to stop his mind from bringing out that image of shirtless Kihyun again. “I thought you were awake already so I didn’t text you to check if you were cool with me coming over.”

“Ahh...yeah, normally I’d be awake by then, but I was really tired so I slept past my alarm. So I guess it’s sort of good that you did knock on my door? I’m not sure what time I would have slept until if no one knocked or called.”

They find themselves striding past a park, and Kihyun suggests that they sit down on a bench inside. “I’m struggling to keep up with your long legs,” he admits, and Hyungwon cracks up.

When they locate the nearest bench, Kihyun quickly sits down and takes a moment to breathe. “Okay. Already feeling better.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to this park before,” Hyungwon notes, nodding at their surroundings.

“Really? Haven’t you been living here for quite some time? Like, three years?” Kihyun looks at him, surprised.

“I have, but I don’t go too far most of the time. And when I do, it’s normally by public transport, not by foot.”

“Makes sense… Well, I go out to take pictures a lot and I walk most of the time so I can capture more things. I enjoy doing it, it’s relaxing and lets me go at my own pace. So I guess I was quite unused to having someone next to me, though that can be interesting in its own way.” Kihyun looks like he’s staring into the next galaxy when he talks about photography, and Hyungwon thinks that’s particularly endearing.

“I’ve never really been into photography, I guess,” Hyungwon shrugs. “I don’t even bother using my phone for more than texting people and games, so my camera roll’s mostly flooded with pictures other people send me.”

“You should try it! I think you might like it. I can teach you some stuff as well if you’d like.” Kihyun smiles softly, then pulls his camera out. “Want to give it a try right now? What do you think you’re more interested in taking pictures of? People, scenery or something else? Well, we can take it slow. I don’t think I started off with a burning passion either, but over time my interest grew greatly.”

Hyungwon accepts the camera with two hands as he ponders this. “Actually, can I take pictures of you? I don’t have the right terminology, but having a constant subject is better, right? I don’t really want to secretly take photos of strangers but at the same time it’d be nice if the subject could move, right?”

“Oh.” Kihyun seems to take a few seconds to understand, as if he can’t believe that Hyungwon would want to take pictures of _him_ , of all things. “Sorry, I’m very unused to being the one that gets photographed since it’s always me who’s taking the photos. I don’t know how good I am at posing, but I can certainly try.”

Afraid to waste too much of Kihyun’s time or make things weird, Hyungwon opts for some plain-looking shots. He takes pictures of Kihyun standing in front of a variety of statues, Kihyun sitting on the bench, and Kihyun pulling some funny faces as well before he decides it’s time he hands the camera back to him.

“Not bad,” Kihyun remarks as they take a look at the photos. “The pictures, I mean, not me. I think you’re a better model for photos than I am by a long shot.”

“Thanks,” Hyungwon mutters shyly. He’s certainly not an expert, but Hyungwon thinks his photos weren’t too bad either. Would it be a good idea to pick up photography to get closer to Kihyun?

“Oh, before I forget, I also brought you out here because I made you this.” Kihyun unzips his bag and starts digging around inside. Hyungwon furrows his brows, trying to understand what Kihyun could possibly have made for him and why he had bothered to do so.

“Okay, here,” Kihyun hands him what looks like a scrapbook. “Happy birthday, Hyungwon.” He smiles widely. On the cover are the words “A Year of Hyungwon through Kihyun’s Camera Lens”. Hyungwon can feel his heart melting. “Sorry we had to start the day off kind of weirdly,” Kihyun adds.

Unsure if it’s what he thinks it is, Hyungwon asks if he can look inside in front of Kihyun, and Kihyun nods sheepishly. “Please do, it’s my first time making such a thing, so I need to know if it’s any good. If it sucks then please pretend this didn’t happen.”

Hyungwon chuckles. “It’ll be fine, I genuinely believe you’re good at basically everything you do.” Kihyun flushes and shakes his head gently, denying it.

Unable to hold in his curiosity any longer, Hyungwon flips it open. On the first page is a picture of his side view. The date neatly written underneath is January 15th, exactly a year ago, and there’s a caption too. Not wanting to embarrass Kihyun too much, Hyungwon only mouths it so Kihyun won’t hear him. “First time seeing a bunch of my neighbours gathered together, and it just so happened to be on Hyungwon’s birthday, the day after I moved in!” Hyungwon’s jaw nearly dislocates itself. He doesn’t remember Kihyun being there. He hadn’t even realised someone had moved into the apartment next to his until maybe another two days later.

He flips the page. “First time properly meeting some neighbours thanks to Minhyuk!” The date is January 21st, and there are two pictures of Hyungwon this time, and he’s sitting next to Minhyuk, both smiling at the camera. He remembers this. It was a few days after Kihyun had visited with those delicious homemade cookies.

There are more and more pictures of him as he turns the pages. And later they stop being just the regular ones with him looking at the camera in a group or individual photo, but also some pictures where he clearly posed for the camera on Kihyun’s request. He can remember most of these times quite well. The captions are rather interesting as well, most of them comment on what had been going on that day, but some also compliment Hyungwon’s looks. Hyungwon would be surprised if he wasn’t already red as a tomato. He hopes it’s not too obvious. If Minhyuk were there with them, he’d be howling with laughter and snapping pictures of his blushing face left and right.

There are a few that have multiple versions, a regular one and then edited ones where Kihyun added some effects, laid out side by side. Some days begin to take up multiple pages too. It’s almost unsettling how many pictures Kihyun has of him, but Hyungwon feels more flattered rather than terrified since he knows Kihyun’s almost always got his camera on hand.

Expecting January 13th to be the last entry, Hyungwon starts to close the scrapbook so he can give the very panicked but also patient-looking Kihyun some feedback, but Kihyun stops him. “There’s still the last page.”

So Hyungwon flips the page yet again and finds that it’s marked as January 15th, just like the first page, but this time, there’s no caption and no photos either. “Ah, so this is supposed to be for today?”

“Yeah,” Kihyun gets up from his place next to Hyungwon on the bench and holds up his camera. “Take a picture with it?”

“Oh, okay!” Hyungwon holds up the scrapbook and smiles, tilting his head to the side. Kihyun snaps the picture, then sits back on the bench to show Hyungwon the photo.

“You can take this back with you, but when I get this printed then please let me stick it in and write a caption too.”

“Ah, sure, that’s fine by me.” Hyungwon strokes the smooth cover and meets Kihyun’s gaze. “Thank you for making this, I love it. I hadn’t been expecting this at all.”

“Glad to hear that,” Kihyun runs a hand through his hair. “It took me ages to figure out how exactly I wanted to do it so that’s why I ended up sleeping so late last night… I had intended to give it to you in the afternoon or something but then you suddenly came knocking.” He chuckles as he recalls what happened earlier that morning.

“No wonder,” Hyungwon murmurs. “This must have taken so long to do…why’d you do something like this for me though? Did you give the other guys cool gifts for their birthdays too?”

“Well, I did buy or make things for them too, but I have the most pictures of you so it was easiest to do something like this for you. I didn’t even include all of the ones I’ve taken of you since they wouldn’t all be able to fit in this.”

“It’s a great gift. I’d always been wondering what kind of photos you have of me since you take so many but don’t really show them to others. It’s nice that I even get to keep some of the ones I’m in.” Hyungwon clutches it to his chest. He’s probably going to put this somewhere where he can easily look at it every other day.

“I almost forgot to ask,” Kihyun exclaims after a couple of seconds of peace and quiet between them. “So why did you knock on my door this morning? You had something to ask or say to me, right?”

Hyungwon freezes. In these precious minutes of pure happiness, he’d nearly forgotten too. “Ahh, um, yeah, that…” He clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably.

“Oh, you don’t need to tell me if it’s no longer relevant,” Kihyun reassures. “I’m just a bit curious, that’s all.”

“Ah, well, the thing is, I do want to say it. Today. I’ve just run out of courage again.” Hyungwon chuckles nervously and fiddles with the edges of the scrapbook. Is this really the right time to confess? Will Kihyun think he’s a piece of dirt for having a crush on him? What if Kihyun wants the scrapbook back?

“Well, we’ve still got half the day to go. Do you want to try again later? We can take some more pictures first, maybe also grab lunch if you’d like,” Kihyun suggests, smiling warmly. It’s calm and puts Hyungwon at ease.

“That would be nice, yes, but I’ll feel bad if I only say it much later and it turns out you don’t like what it is that I want to say. Argh, that sounds confusing, sorry.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, we can all be like that sometimes.” Kihyun still doesn’t move away, just sits there and looks into Hyungwon’s eyes, like he’s peering into his soul. Hyungwon feels exposed when really it was Kihyun who was very much exposed earlier that morning. Hyungwon nearly snickers at that thought.

“I think I just need a good way to lead up to it.” Hyungwon uncrosses his legs and swings them around. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked you this before, but have you ever been in a relationship?”

Kihyun looks slightly startled. His cheeks appear to be on fire. “No, actually. Never really felt up for it, I guess? And no one has asked me out or anything. It’s weird, I have to say. I think I don’t quite understand what it means to be in love.”

“Wow, that’s kind of unexpected,” Hyungwon muses. “Well, I haven’t dated before either. So that makes two of us.”

“I suppose so, yeah.” The corners of Kihyun’s lips go up. “But do you know what it feels like to be romantically interested in someone? I really think I’ve got no idea.”

“Hmm, I guess your heart might flutter when you see them. You might look at them a lot and feel shy around them, at the same time you could also feel a lot bolder in front of them because you want them to notice or like you? You might want to spend more time with them and find excuses to do so, and you might think about them very often. I guess that’s the type of thing I go through when I’m attracted to someone, it could be different for everyone. And it’s still not quite love, it’s just a crush.” Hyungwon tucks his hands into his pockets, hoping that wasn’t too weird.

“I think I get it. And I think I might’ve felt something like that before,” Kihyun mumbles, evidently deep in thought. He looks so serious and Hyungwon finds that adorable. Just then, Kihyun glances up at Hyungwon. “You don’t have to tell me, but do you like someone now?”

Hyungwon finds himself nervously clearing his throat again. “Ah, um, yeah. Uh, okay, I’ll just say it now. I don’t know whether you’re straight or something else, but ever since the first time I saw you, I fell for you hard. You know, romantically, yeah. I’d been meaning to confess to you today and then ask you out if you’re cool with giving it a shot, so that’s why I woke up a lot earlier than usual and bothered to look presentable for once without being told to. So, uh, are you interested in going on a date with me? Just as a one time thing? Okay, well, maybe you’re against gay people, and that’s fine, that’s the whole reason why I decided to push myself to ask you today so-”

Kihyun cuts him off. “Would you mind giving that back to me?” He points at the scrapbook, still in Hyungwon’s hands. Oh no. Hyungwon’s worst nightmare is coming true.

Noticing the look of distress on Hyungwon’s face, Kihyun quickly amends his previous question. “Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. What I meant was, can I have it back for a bit? A day? I think I have some modifications to make to a number of the captions, that’s why.” He offers an embarrassed grin.

Hyungwon snaps out of his dazed feeling when he hears that, even though he doesn’t think he fully understands. “Oh, ohhh, okay, yeah, sure, that’s fine.” He passes it back to Kihyun, who cradles it in his arms.

Kihyun looks back up, locking eyes with Hyungwon once again. “And, to answer your question… I think I’d like to.” His smile is sweet, and Hyungwon is quite sure he’d do anything to keep this smile on Kihyun’s face for the rest of eternity.

“Really?” Hyungwon whispers, a look of shock written all over his face.

“Yes, really,” Kihyun affirms. “Thanks to your words, I think I understand myself better now. I’d been paying an abnormal amount of attention to you these last few months, especially. So while I didn’t really know what my sexual orientation was for many years, and still don’t quite know, I think it’s safe to say that inside I’ve kind of been yearning to go out with you on dates… Now that I think about it, I think I’d spent a fair bit of time imagining us going to various places…” Kihyun adds with a soft chuckle. “Ahhh this is really embarrassing… I just didn’t think it meant I actually wanted to date you or something like that…”

“Ohh...fair enough. Society expects us to know what love feels like, but there’s not much out there to guide us through it,” Hyungwon grumbles. “And even if it doesn’t last for too long, I think it’s not a bad idea to try.” He smiles back reassuringly.

Kihyun returns the scrapbook to him the next day and then shuffles back to his own apartment immediately, claiming he has some cleaning to do. Understanding that Kihyun must be too embarrassed to watch Hyungwon open it again, Hyungwon leaves him be and flips it open immediately to see what has changed.

Underneath the first caption, Kihyun had added another sentence. “He was really handsome so I couldn’t resist the urge to take a picture, but I didn’t have the guts to go say ‘hello’ yet,” Hyungwon reads aloud, then breaks into a smile.

The next caption now includes: “The second time we spoke to each other! (The first time being when I brought him cookies I baked) I like his voice, he seems like a nice person to talk to and spend time with.”

He keeps turning the pages, and almost all the captions have new sentences on Kihyun’s feelings about Hyungwon. The latest ones, especially, start to bring up Kihyun wanting to go out to certain places with Hyungwon, just the two of them, and how Kihyun thinks about him way too much and can’t help but try to run into Hyungwon more often. Exactly what Hyungwon had been feeling all this time.

Finally, Hyungwon gets to the last page. The second 15th January, which was yesterday. There’s one of the pictures of Hyungwon holding the scrapbook, and the caption reads: “Went to the park with Hyungwon and talked a lot. He helped me to understand my feelings better and also tried taking some photos using my camera! Then he confessed and asked me out, and I said yes!”

Underneath are a few of the pictures that Hyungwon had taken, printed out but not glued onto the page. Hyungwon takes them out and looks at each one, happy to have these shots that he’d taken of Kihyun. How Kihyun had found the time to get them printed so quickly, he had no idea. When he was finally done admiring how happy and relaxed Kihyun looked in each of the pictures, Hyungwon places them back at the last page of the scrapbook. After looking at that final picture of himself one last time, he closes the scrapbook, content.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :D
> 
> Twitter: [hchaes](https://twitter.com/hchaes)  
> CuriousCat: [hchaes](https://curiouscat.me/hchaes)


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